Anniversaries

TODAY

Births: Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, physician and politician, 1738; William Pitt the Younger, statesman, 1759; Thomas Moore, poet and musician, 1779; William Miller, line-engraver, 1796; Louis Jean Rodolphe Agassiz, naturalist, 1807; Sir Clough Williams- Ellis, architect and town-planner, 1883; Edvard Benes, statesman, 1884; Ian Lancaster Fleming, author and creator of 'James Bond', 1908; the Dionne Quintuplets, Cecilie, Yvonne, Annette, Emilie and Marie, 1934.

Deaths: Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1089; Jan van der Meer (Jan Vermeer van Haarlem the Younger), painter, buried 1705; Luigi Boccherini, cellist and composer, 1805; Noah Webster, lexicographer, 1843; Anne Bronte, novelist, 1849; John Russell, first Earl Russell, statesman, 1878; Sir George Grove, engineer and first director of the Royal College of Music, 1900; Walter Satterlee, figure and genre painter, 1908; Sir John Lubbock, first Baron Avebury, banker and author, 1913; Alfred Adler, psychiatrist, 1937; Edward, Duke of Windsor, 1972; Eric Morecambe (Eric Bartholomew), comedian, 1984.

On this day: the English defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Southwold Bay, 1672; the Treaty of Bucharest was signed, making peace between Russia and Turkey, 1812; in Rome, Michele Schirru, an American, attempted to shoot Mussolini, but was shot dead himself, 1931; Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister, 1937; the Belgian army surrendered to the Germans, 1940; the Battle of Narvik started, 1940; the first London production of the musical show Guys and Dolls was presented, 1953; the first London production of the musical show Lock Up Your Daughters was presented, 1959; the Orient Express train, Paris-Bucharest, ceased running after 78 years, 1961; Francis Chichester arrived home at Plymouth after his round-the-world voyage, 1967.

Today is the Feast Day of St Germanus of Paris, St Ignatius of Rostov, St Justus of Urgel, St Senator of Milan and St William of Gellone.

TOMORROW

Births: John Penry, Puritan author and martyr, 1593; Charles II, King, 1630; Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough, 1660; Dr John Walker, inventor of the friction match, 1781; Emil Breslauer, pianist, 1836; Hans Makart, painter, 1840; Heinrich von Kaan, pianist and composer, 1852; Isaac Manuel Francisco Albeniz, composer, 1860; Gilbert Keith Chesterton, author, 1874; Oswald Spengler, philosopher, 1880; Joseph von Sternberg, film director, 1894; Terence Hanbury White, novelist, 1906; John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th US president, 1917.

Deaths: Henry Dundas, first Viscount Melville, statesman, 1811; Sir Humphry Davy, inventor of the miners' safety lamp, 1829; Jean-Louis Hamon, painter, 1874; John Lothrop Motley, diplomat and historian, 1877; Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, librettist and playwright, 1911; Adam Adolf Oberlander, painter and caricaturist, 1923; Josef Suk, violinist and composer, 1935; John Barrymore (Blythe), actor, 1942; Fanny Brice (Fannie Borach), comedienne, 1951; Mary Pickford (Gladys Mary Smith), actress, 1979.

On this day: Constantinople fell to the Turks, 1453; Charles II entered London after the restoration of the monarchy, 1660; Rhode Island became the 13th of the United States, 1790; Wisconsin became the 30th of the United States, 1848; the first steam cable tram in Europe began operating in Highgate, London, 1884; the evacuation from Dunkirk began, 1940; Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing reached the summit of Mount Everest, 1953; Charles de Gaulle formed a government of national safety in France, 1959; the first London production of the musical show Gypsy was presented, 1973.

Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday and the Feast Day of St Bernard of Montjoux or Menthon, St Cyril of Caesarea, St Maximinus of Trier, Saints Sisinnius, Martyrius and Alexander, St Theodosia of Constantinople and Saints William, Stephen, Raymund and their Companions.